Plane fire forces emergency landing after passenger’s laptop battery sets fire

2023-02-09

A plane has been forced to pull an emergency landing after a passenger's laptop battery burst into flames.

The United Airlines flight had been in the air barely three quarters of an hour when the San Diego to Newark, United States flight was diverted and grounded.

Four flight attendants were taken to hospital following the incident, where "a customer's battery pack ignited" while two passengers were evaluated on site after landing.

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The flight departed later in the day, with "quick actions" praised by United Airlines following the incident, which saw a laptop battery set on fire in a worrying rise in lithium battery flight fires.

A statement from Hassan Shahidi, president and chief executive of the Flight Safety Foundation, noted that people are bringing their devices on board more and more.

Those devices fitted with lithium batteries can catch fire when overheating or damaged, with the Federal Aviation Administration having strict rules on how big of a battery passengers can carry on.

Flight Safety Foundation representative Hassan said: "There's definitely a concern. We've seen the trend not going down, because people are increasingly having more of these devices onboard."

Such a concern has seen new advice offered to those bringing on their lithium-filled devices, WashingtonPost reported.

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Mr Shahidi listed off some of the advice he would give to passengers on board the flight who may find that their device is smoking or has slipped down the side of their seat.

He said: "Don't move the seat yourself. It could add pressure, and inadvertently cracking or damaging it is not a good thing. The crew can take the seat out."

Air vent circulation could also be a potential fix if the cabin is filled up with smoke, with the Federal Aviation Administration chief noting that planes have very good air circulation.

He added: "Aircraft circulates air very rapidly, so turning on the fans is very helpful."

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